Just now got a chance to post about this weekend and I hate to say I am a little bummed.

I had everything ready for last weekend. Got all the flies and everything I thought I would need so I could get up early Saturday so I was REAL excited about getting to go out early on Saturday especially after all the rain and cooler temps. Well it did not work out exactly how I expected.

First I could not sleep Friday Night because I think I was so excited.
I get up early Saturday anyway. Drive all the way up to the end of the gravel road past Tremont.
Get out and Hike up past (what I would call the chutes).
I think I may have been the first fisherman up there. A couple of hikers where there but did not see another fisherman.
Well I start casting and realize I am having a hard time seeing my Parachute Adams so I switch to a yellow stimulator so I can see it better and I was expecting to catch them on the Green Weenie anyway.
Well I pick up my rod right above the connection on my 2 piece rod. It snaps right in my hand. I did not even go to pick it up I was just starting to get to grab further down with my other hand.
I am real disappointed.
I try to do some work to get it to connect again at least to try and catch something. Needless to say but it did not work.

Oh well the fish ain't going anywhere. I got to be out in God's country for a bit. So it was not a complete loss.

The only problem I got now is don't have another rod and don't know when I will get one. I was wanting something smaller anyway.

BTW does anyone know what kind of a warrenty Orvis Rods have. I bought it right before Christmas last year. It was the Clearwater beginner Pack or somethin like that. Just wondering if they will do anything for me.

I am sooo sorry about your day. Hans was correct, the Orvis Clearwater carries a 25 year unconditional warranty. The streamline series did not originally carry a warranty, but they will do a repair now for $50.00.

We can help you send your rod in for repair. Just bring it by or give me a call...

Both my son and I have Clearwater series outfits. He broke his last summer. When I checked into it, I was told that they both had lifetime, unconditional warranties. In fact, I still have the original warranty card and it states very clearly that should it ever break - for any reason - they will replace it. So I had his shipped back to Orvis and they sent a brand spanking new rod back about four weeks later. I only had to pay for shipping. The only negative thing in the whole deal was that Orvis sent him a completely new rod. I know... sounds like a good thing, not a bad thing. But we bought our rods about three years ago and we both feel they were of better manufacture than the current Clearwater rod - something about the new UV coating, maybe? Anyway, it can't hurt to send yours back.

As to the "perfect size", well, that's very subjective. My rod is the 7'9" 5 wt. full-flex Clearwater and my son's rod is the 9' 5wt. mid-flex Clearwater. Most days I feel my rod is the smarter choice for these small mountain streams. But other days I wish I had that additional length. I think I've finally figured out what it is. For dry flys, the 7'9" is more than enough rod for every stream conditon I've encountered. But for nymphing, I'd really like to have that extra foot or so. It would greatly help for Byron's "high-sticking".

Good luck with Orvis.

Gerry

__________________"I've since learned to use the best knot rather than the one that uses the least line. I go through more tippet material but compensate by drinking cheaper whiskey. One must have priorities." ... Art Scheck

When I sent my Reddington rod back to be replaced, they asked that i send the whole rod back so they could try to fix it and donate it to the boy scouts. My rod wasn't really broke, I tore off one of the guides while trying to pull it apart, I also ripped a big gash in my hand .

I know this is of little consolation now, but for the future, do yourself a favor and get a second rod for a back-up. If money is an object as it is with me, it doesn't have to be a nice rod, could be a second-hand rod or even a cheap dime-store rod. Believe me, you will be happy to have a Wal-Mart special in the trunk should this ever happen again (no offense to Byron & gang).

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Please bear in mind that I have no idea what I am talking about.

Sad to hear your rod broke. You gotta carry duct tape. Assuming your rod was about 8.5 feet, you could have made an ugly 7.5 footer out of it by taping the overlapped, broken segments together, and wrapping that with some 3x tippet. Then you could have at least fished for a little while, and it would probably have worked better than you might think at first.